


Puppet Abuse

by N_Is_For_Knowledge



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (hopefully), Angst, Bill is a jerk, Dipper’s confused, Gen, Mabel’s confused, You know what happens, if you’ve read the journal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-08-17 17:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N_Is_For_Knowledge/pseuds/N_Is_For_Knowledge
Summary: Bill completely destroys his puppet. It’s worse than you think. (Or, if Bill had his way with Dipper’s body.)





	1. The Theatre Fire

Mabel was nervous. Everything had to be  _ perfect _ . She had to keep this going-

 

“But why?”, her brain said. “So you can please some guy you just met? What about your brother?”

 

_ Shut up, brain. You know why.  _ She had lost everyone. Mermando, Norman, Sev’ral Timez, Gideon… none of them could be with her. She would be alone. Forever.

 

She nervously took a sip of water. Why? Why did everything have to go so wrong? She had to do something right. Maybe, after the show, Dipper would understand. 

 

He wasn’t mad. He was perfectly okay with it. Right?

 

“Intermission is over!” The intercom crackled to life, but the voice wasn’t Grenda’s low boom. “We’re moving this thing to the water tower!”

 

Dipper was going to ruin everything.

~

 

Dipper stared helplessly as Bill set the lighter on the journal. What would he do? Something from minutes ago (minutes? It felt like days), bubbled up into his brain, something Bill had said. “Without a vessel, you’re basically a ghost!”

 

A vessel. He needed a vessel.

 

He raced to the bins, hundreds of discarded puppets inside. Before he could pick one, though, a box burst into flames. Then another. Then another. A wall of flames engulfed him in no time. 

 

Bill’s lighter. He must have left it on when he tossed it aside. 

 

As the stage burned, he heard his voice. “Intermission is over. We’re moving this thing to the water tower!” 

 

Bill.

 

He had to get there before Bill destroyed his body, or worse.

 

~

 

Bill heard the cries of the wrestling girl (Grendo? Grendu?) saying “Our intermission has begun!”  _ Perfect. _ He could go up there, burn the book, and then give this puppet its grand finale! He had brought a lighter for this very purpose.

 

He ran up the stairs to the catwalk. There was the book, marked with Sixer’s handprint as expected. He reached inside the fake cake- 

 

And fell inside, falling to the ground. The cake smashed into a million pieces. Wonderful! Might make it easier for Shooting Star to get mad at her brother! Sibling dynamics were always fun.

 

He tested the lighter on himself first, relishing in the tickling, burning feeling that he had really missed. Once he was sure it worked, he set the flames on the journal. 

 

Bill watched the cover warp and blacken, smiling as the flames licked away at the pages. In a few minutes, the book was reduced to ashes.

 

He tossed the lighter, still flaming, to the ground, and took two puppets, Shooting Star and Star’s new crush. He really wanted to put on a show for his puppet’s final moments. He stepped up to the microphone and in Pine Tree’s voice said, “Intermission is over. We’re moving this thing to the water tower!” But where was his puppet?

 

“Bill? What are you doing!” Right on cue, Pine Tree appeared with his puppet. 

 

He smirked. “Please, Pine Tree. Give me the puppet. Ya know, you’re a lot smarter than I gave you credit for!”

 

“Reall- Wait, no. I’m not falling for your tricks again, Bill! Why  _ should  _ I give it to you?”

 

“Ah, come on, Pine Tree! Looks like I’ll have to  _ up the stakes. _ ” He tossed a piece of burning wood at the puppet. “Give me the puppet! Or else you know what’ll happen.”

 

“What?”

 

He mimed cutting the Star puppet’s head off. “Hand it over and I won’t hurt your sister!” It was his… what did the mortals call it? Trump card! He had never understood such fickle relationships, but it was  _ so easy  _ to manipulate people with them. 

 

“Really?” He was getting it. 

 

“Yessiree, Pine Tree! I won’t harm a hair on her head.”

 

“Really? Well… okay. Here.” And the puppet, as well as Pine Tree’s only hopes at communicating, was in his hands.

 

He ran out the door, just before the theater was engulfed in fire.

 

~

 

Mabel stared at the burning theater, arms linked with Candy and Grenda. “How? What happened?”

 

“Well, there are two possibilities,” started Candy. “Either some theatre-hating ghost mimicked Dipper’s voice and burned down the theater…”

 

“Or Dipper’s still mad at you.” Grenda finished.

 

“But he can’t be that mad at me! Mad enough to ruin my play? Mad enough to  _ burn down a theater? _ ”  _ I hope he didn’t make any rash decisions…  _

 

“Come on, Mabel!” yelled Dipper as he ran out of the theater. He was  _ grinning _ . “You don’t wanna miss the grand finale!”

 

Okay, maybe it was him after all. “Okay, Dipper!”  _ He’s probably fine. He probably dropped the lighter on accident. He’s just super sleep deprived. _ “But I had a whole thing planned.”

 

He laughed and stretched his smile wider. Dipper did not smile that wide.  _ The sleep deprivation must really be getting to him. _ “I know, the wedding! Well, we can’t really do that, seeing as, well…” He pointed towards the burning theater. 

 

The journal! It was super important and Dipper had really cared about it. “The journal’s in there!”

 

“Oh,  _ now _ you care about that.”

 

He paused for a while before smiling at something that wasn’t there. “I know, brilliant, right?” A pause. “It was just getting in the way!”

 

“Ok, Dip-dop, you need some sleep.” Did he have an imaginary friend?

 

“Not yet, toots! First we have to finish what we started!” He grinned at the thing that wasn’t there. “Come on, we’ll be late!”


	2. The Water Tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, but I was rly busy and kinda thought this chapter was shit so I was scared to post it. I know that’s a bad excuse, but enjoy! Or not...

Dipper took off, much faster than her, and much faster than possible for someone to run, especially if they haven’t slept for five days. It was impossible to keep up.

She walked along the dirt road, arms linked with Candy and Grenda, making sure to take the longest route to the water tower. She needed to think.

“Okay. Dipper’s acting weird. Any theories?”

“YOU SOUND LIKE DIPPER!” Grenda boomed.

“Well, Dip isn’t sounding like himself, so I need to be a substitute Dipper! But don’t worry. I’ll be a cooler Dip than he’ll ever be!”, she said, jokingly. “But really, any theories? I’ve got some.”

“Let Mabel speak first.” said Candy.

“Ok. Theory 1? Severe sleep deprivation. I think this one’s probs the most likely. He hasn’t slept in a _week_ . Theory 2? He’s possessed. Honestly, _not_ likely.” And there was another one, one too terrible to even consider.

_Mabel, listen, last night I had a dream with Bill in it._

No. He wouldn’t. Dipper would never trust him. He was supposed to be the paranoid one. Dipper would rather die than trust Bill.

~

Dipper floated across the street, making sure to always keep up with Bill.

Why would he be going to the water tower? Would he give his body even more burns?

_It’s my body. My body. Not Bill’s. Not anyone else’s. Mine. Mine. Mine._

He was worried. When- _if_ \- he got his body back, he would have to deal with the pain of several puncture wounds from a fork, falling down the stairs, beating up his arm in a drawer, and the burns, which were likely third-degree. Maybe he should just let Bill have it.

No. That would mean everyone would think he was insane or something. He’d never watch stupid shows with Wendy again, or blow up hot dogs with Soos again, or have a syrup race with Mabel…

_Mabel!_

He watched Bill climb up the ladder to the top of the water tower, and braced himself for the worst.

~

Bill smiled, still feeling the after effects of the pain. It still made him laugh.

Everything was going his way. The journal was gone. And when Dipper, or at least his body went too, the portal would open right on schedule. He would find a rift. And _finally_ gain a dimension.

Everything was going according to plan.

~

Mabel had ran the rest of the way, convinced. Dipper was in danger. From himself. She had to hurry.

She finally came next to the water tower, Dipper smiling and holding three puppets. At least he had done that. Maybe he wasn’t possessed after all.

“Ah, Sh- Mabel! I was waiting for you! After all, you’re the star of the show! So let’s continue with where we left off. The war, right?”

“Yep.”

“So, Gabe returned from the war, unscathed.” He began. Leave it to him to add fancy words like _unscathed_ . “ _Hey Mabel! I’m back from the war!_ ” He said in a mockery of Gabe’s voice. “ _Gabe! I’ve missed you so!_ ” Said the Mabel puppet. _“Wanna kiss and sing at the same time?”_ He was doing well. He was completely on script so far. Maybe he had just found a new venue to perform. Maybe Dipper was okay.

“Mabel was so caught up in Gabe that she failed to notice her brother. She had abandoned him to work on a puppet show while he was on the cusp of something. Something _big._ She had _promised_ to help him. But she didn’t.”

_Oh._ “If this is about the laptop, why didn’t you just tell me?”

Dipper ignored her. “Frustrated, he started looking for answers. Started digging too deep. ‘Fine! I’ll do it on my own!’, he said. ‘I don’t need you! I don’t need anyone!’ He found someone. Someone who had answers. All the answers. But… he trusted him. And that broke him.” He carelessly tossed the Dipper puppet over the rail, into the craggy rocks below.

_Dipper?_

“Mabel didn’t even care. Not one bit. And, that made sense. She had a home, a successful career. She wasn’t gonna risk that. I mean, who would sacrifice everything they've worked for just for their dumb sibling? And Mabel and Gabe lived happily ever after. Dipper? Not so much. The end.”

“Wait, what?”

“Boo!” The crowd yelled. Manly Dan almost broke the water tower supports.

How? What? Was this about the laptop? How mad was he, really? Did he really think she didn’t care?

Dipper laughed. “Ha. Classic Mabel. This is an _opera_ . What were you expecting? A _happy ending?_ ”

“Dipper! Come back down here! You need sleep! You haven’t slept for the past 124 hours!”

“Sleep is for the weak, toots. I’m not done yet.”

_Toots?_

“So, sis, it _hurts_ me to see your beautiful creation lying on the rocks like that. So, should I go _get that for you?”_

_Dipper? Are you still in there?_

“Dipper, no! Come back!”

 

And he jumped.

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, there’s more. I’m not leaving on that huge cliffhanger.


End file.
